The Segeberg Scoop - April 2008
Woo-hoo! Here it is, the last day of April, and I’m actually writing the April Scoop! We’ve had a busy and fun month.
We’ll start with Whitney once again, because she’s the youngest. Since starting to walk at the beginning of the month, Whitney has just taken off! She thinks that since she can keep up better with the bigger kids, she’s allowed to go anywhere and do whatever she wants. It has been fun to watch her independence blossom these past few weeks. Along with the walking seems to have come some improvement in her communication as well. Although most people can’t tell what she’s saying, Whitney says daddy, bye-bye, (which in Whit-nese is pronounced “nigh-nigh!”), thank you, and sometimes doggy. She jabbers a lot and we’ve picked out a few other words from time to time, but she doesn’t use them consistently yet. Whitney has also picked up a few new signs including book, kitty, strawberry, candy, apple, shoes, drink, and doggie this month.
Kallie had her last day of preschool during April. It was our turn to have preschool at our home, so we had a big “Zoo” party, (for the letter Z), to finish up the year. It was a great time! Since then, Kallie has gone to the library for story time, played outside with friends, and played games with Mommy. During the month of April, Kallie started writing a few of her letters. And although she still has a while to go before she starts truly reading and writing, she is certainly getting better at remembering which sounds go with which letters. Kallie also continues to be a wonderful helper. She is kind and gentle with her sister and likes to involve Whitney in her make believe and imagined games.
Ryan finished up his semester about a week ago. I’m still getting used to the idea that he’s not going to have homework for the next few months. Although the plan was for Ryan to completely focus on his thesis this summer, he has decided to take a computer animation class that he didn’t have time to take last semester. It’s along the lines of a just-for-fun class, which Ryan has had too few of during his college career. Ryan was also recently replaced as our family dishwasher. One of the couples Ryan home-taught this year offered to give us their portable dishwasher when they moved this week. Ryan has wanted one since we moved in here--and since this one was free, we couldn’t turn down the offer. It does take a lot of space in the kitchen and we have to hook it to our kitchen faucet to run a load, but hopefully the minimal effort will save us some time in the end!
As for me, I’ve had a fun month! A few weeks ago Ryan and I got to attend the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point. I took our camera and practiced some photography techniques while we were there. Out of 423 pictures I took, (“Like a Japanese tourist!” were Ryan’s words…), I found 4 that I LOVE and a few more than that I like. I also found out that there is a photo contest held in connection with the Tulip Festival—so I entered one of my pictures. If you live close enough to get to Thanksgiving Point, feel free to head over between May 9-24 and vote for my picture, (which is titled “Awakening”). :) I’m also very excited because I get to attend BYU’s Women’s Conference this weekend. I haven’t been since I was in college, so I’m really looking forward to having this fun break with my girlfriends!
We send wishes of a warm month of May! Until then…
Love,
Ryan, Amanda, Kallie, and Whitney